Around the Farm: May 27, 2014

Around the Farm takes a quick look at some of yesterday’s performances by Cleveland prospects throughout the system. The positions listed below are where the player was playing in yesterday’s game.

Note, Akron was rained out on Tuesday.

Carlos Moncrief (RF, Columbus): 2-for-4, R, RBI, K, SB. It has been a slow learning process for Moncrief at the Triple-A level but he is showing incremental improvement this season. Also, on May 28th last season at Double-A Akron he was hitting .246 with a .699 OPS, which is right in line with the .244 average and .650 OPS he currently has at Columbus. He did not get hot last season until June and July, so hopefully the same happens for him this season.

Ryan Merritt (SP, Carolina): 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R/ER, 0 BB, 8 K. Yet another example of how win-loss records for pitchers are meaningless as Merritt pitched a very good game but because of an anemic offense that was shut out he was tagged with the loss. This was yet another good outing from him as he limited the opposition to just six baserunners and racked up more than a strikeout an inning. He has still only had 12 starts at the High-A level and the Indians prefer he get more time there before a push to Double-A Akron, but an aggressive push to Akron would appear to be in the cards very soon – especially since there is an open rotation spot or two at Akron.

Tyler Holt (CF, Columbus): 1-for-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 BB, SB. Holt impresses again in his second game at Triple-A. I have been of the belief that he should have been in Columbus to start the season, but at least now that he is there he is off to a good start and filling the box score and helping the team win.

Elliot Johnson (DH, Columbus): 2-for-4, 2 R, 3B, RBI. Johnson hit third in the lineup which just goes to show you the lack of punch the Indians have at the Major League and Triple-A level right now. A productive night for him, but wow do the Indians have problems in the power department.

Kyle Davies (SP, Columbus): 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R/ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 2 HR. Nothing spectacular about this outing other than Davies provided innings, which is all the Indians are looking for from him. They have a need for a starter to eat innings in the upper levels regardless of performance and he has done that this season.

Kyle Crockett (RP, Columbus): 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. This was an outstanding effort from Crockett as he shut down the opposition in the seventh and eighth innings. It appears likely that once Crockett’s 10 days are up in the minors after being optioned on May 22nd that he will be back up in Cleveland right around June 1st.

Erik Gonzalez (SS, Carolina): 1-for-2. Before anybody freaks out, Gonzalez was removed after the fifth inning in a planned move. Since it was his first game back after being on the DL for two weeks, he only played half a game which is a standard practice the Indians use.

Yhoxian Medina (SS, Carolina): 2-for-2. Medina replaced Gonzalez and filled in nicely. After an awful start in Carolina he has picked things up with the bat and has four multi-hit games in his last six games and is 11-for-25 (.444) over his last seven games.

Anthony Gallas (LF, Carolina): 0-for-4. Gallas is in a major funk offensively right now. He was on top of the world hitting .348 with a .990 OPS on May 16th but over his last 10 games he is hitting .083 (3-for-36) with a .321 which has seen him plummet to a .293 average and .851 OPS.

Elvis Araujo (RP, Carolina): 1.0 IP, 3 H, 4 R (2 ER), 0 BB, 1 K. Consistency continues to be Araujo’s biggest issue. He has been dominant in most of his outings but he has to avoid the big blow ups as he has given up all seven of his earned runs in just three of his 14 outings this season.

Rob Nixon (RP, Carolina): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. This was a nice bounce back outing from Nixon as he had struggled of late allowing two runs in three of his last four outings coming into the game.

Paul Hendrix (SS, Lake County): 0-for-3, BB, 3 K. Hendrix has really led the charge offensively this month for Lake County, but the one thing which really concerns me is his strikeouts as he now has 50 in 141 at bats. He also has a ridiculous .477 BABIP so he’s bound to have a serious regression in performance at some point.

Eric Haase (C, Lake County): 2-for-4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, K. Haase smashed his 10th round tripper of the season. He leads the Indians organization and all of the Midwest League in home runs. Considering his performance and having played at Lake County all of last season a midseason promotion to High-A Carolina would seem to be coming soon.

Grant Fink (3B, Lake County): 1-for-4, RBI, 2 K. Fink’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave the Captains a much needed walkoff win. He has done a solid job in the role he has been used but the 70 strikeouts in 168 at bats is alarming.

Dace Kime (SP, Lake County): 5.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R/ER, 3 BB, 1 K. Things did not look very good for Kime in the early going this season, but he appears to be making some adjustments. Over his last three outings he has thrown 15.0 innings and allowed 5 runs (3.00 ERA) on 9 hits, 4 walks and has 6 strikeouts.

Luis Lugo (RP, Lake County): 5.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K. Lugo has struggled just as much as Kime this season, but he may be starting to put things together as well. He has a rough outing the last time out when he allowed 4 runs in 3.0 innings, but has put up shutout efforts in two of his last three appearances.

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!